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Advice On A 3 Screen Set-Up Please

xgstq

xgstq

xgstq

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Joined
7 Jul 2008
Posts
80
Location
Stoke on Trent
ok so ive got 3 x 24" Dell monitors ready and waiting to be set-up (still boxed)

I've currently got a HD 4870x2 GFX card that will run 2 monitors and was going to just stick a cheap 2nd GFX PCI-E to run the 3rd screen of... but ive been reading !!


I never even knew ATI Eyefinity existed until today !! It would seem it is very popular...
Now for me to get this method, im guessing I would need a compatible GFX card, I found http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-017-C3&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673 which would work but then wouldn't play games as good as with my HD 4870x2 What I also don't understand or get my little head around is that the card write up says Eyefinity will support 3 monitors + on 1 GFX card, but I can only see 2 DVI slots on the card ??? how can I connect the third monitor DVI cable ? :confused:

The third option is to get the TripleHead2Go kit, but at around £290+ its probably the most expensive option (but does look good).

Any advice, or someone with a 3 monitor set-up currently and how they did it, to advice me would be very much appreciated.

Ill be mainly gaming and web designing from the 3 screen set-up
 
With eyefinity, you need 3 monitors and one of the monitors have to have a display port. The other 2 can be dvi. You can use adapters but a lot of people have problems with them, the 3rd montor blinking etc...
 
Yeah my monitors are all 1920 x 1080 so ive read that i could use a passive adapter to convert the DVI to Display Port, because its smaller than 1920 x 1200... apparantly.

That being said, my current HD4870x2 doesn't support Eyefinity so i would either need to trade it in for a £500+ HD5970 series... or try the above linked HD5670 at a graphics performance loss.

choices choices, life's all about choices !

I just cant justify spending £500 + on a new GFX card.

The 2nd GFX card option is still looking good, albeit I wont be able to game across all 3 screens but I can live with that !

Thx for the reply Ben
 
Think this covers everything.

First option: TH2G (digital version) at £240ish. Pro: can keep 4870X2 (and allows use of NVIDIA cards too). Con: expensive and is nothing more than an adaptor (also is limited to 5040x1050 but ur screens can do 5760 x 1200).

Second option: get a second ATI card (doesnt need to be a good one) to use to run the third screen together with software called "SoftTH". Pro: u could do it for very cheap, perhaps as little as a £40 for a second gfx card. Con: not a great solution as game support is limited (often requires file tweaking to get it to work and it takes a significant fps hit.

Third (and best current option): sell ur 4870X2 on ebay and purchase a 5870 or if ur feeling flush a 5970 (or even 2x 5850s in crossfire). All of these give excellent performance at triple resolution. In addition to the new gfx card, and if none of ur monitors have a DP (Display Port) connection, u will need to get an adapter - passive ones dont work so u need to fork out for an active one - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-223-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1502. The card u linked to is not good enough to give good fps at high resolutions, 5850 would be the minimum recommended IMO (and only 5*** series ATI cards allow Eyefinity).

These new cards have 4 connections: 1xDP, 2xDVI and 1xHDMI.
ati_radeon_hd_5870_1.jpg

1 DVI and the HDMI are shared so u can only use one of those at a time meaning u would connect 2xDVI to ur monitors and the DP to DVI converter to monitor's DVI (hope that makes sense!).

Some games will require a widescreen fix to play at triple res e.g. http://imk.cx/pc/widescreenfixer/ is for BF2, BF2142, COD4, Bioshock, UT. Lots of widescreen info at http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/ (website) and http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/ (forum).

I (and lots of other people on here) will be taking the third option once the prices of the 5*** series cards and sapphire adapter drop off a bit.

NVIDIA will be releasing their own version of 3 monitor gaming with the release of their new cards in March?April?May? So may be worth waiting for their solution, however, people seem very happy with the way ATI Eyefinity works.

Hope this helps, let me know if any of it is unclear :cool:
 
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xgstq said:
ok so ive got 3 x 24" Dell monitors ready and waiting to be set-up (still boxed)

I've currently got a HD 4870x2 GFX card that will run 2 monitors and was going to just stick a cheap 2nd GFX PCI-E to run the 3rd screen of... but ive been reading !!


I never even knew ATI Eyefinity existed until today !! It would seem it is very popular...
Now for me to get this method, im guessing I would need a compatible GFX card, I found http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-017-C3&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673 which would work but then wouldn't play games as good as with my HD 4870x2 What I also don't understand or get my little head around is that the card write up says Eyefinity will support 3 monitors + on 1 GFX card, but I can only see 2 DVI slots on the card ??? how can I connect the third monitor DVI cable ? :confused:

The third option is to get the TripleHead2Go kit, but at around £290+ its probably the most expensive option (but does look good).

Any advice, or someone with a 3 monitor set-up currently and how they did it, to advice me would be very much appreciated.

Ill be mainly gaming and web designing from the 3 screen set-up
Click to expand...

I doubt you will want to go the TH2G route, as said it is only an adapter but more importantly the maximum res it supports is 3 x 1680 x 1050 so you would have to run your monitors non-natively.

A 5870 is not far of a 4870x2, supports dx11, uses less power, is quieter and better than the TH2G as you will be able to run your monitors at their native res. Only downside is you will need to find a displayport to dvi converter, if you can find a passive one that works then more power to you, but you will most likely need a more expensive active one, ocuk stocks one at £80 i think (only place in the uk).
 
You COULD even get a 5850 with the intention of crossfiring it with another one.

A lot if not all 5850s will overclock to and above 5870 speeds anyway.
 
Why did you not just get a 30" ?

You do know, you wont be seeing playable frame rates across three 1920 x 1200 monitors any time in the next three years.
 
Thanks for all the replies,

I think im going to flog my HD4870x2 and get a diffrent card that supports Eyefinity, seems the better option.

For those of you that don't want to fork out the £80 on a Active DisplayPort to DVI converter apparently this works http://www.monoprice.com/products/p..._id=1042801&p_id=5135&seq=1&format=4#feedback (read the feedback responses)

Anyways... new GFx card it is !

Thanks again, you have all made my mind very clear on the correct path
 
xgstq said:
Thanks for all the replies,

I think im going to flog my HD4870x2 and get a diffrent card that supports Eyefinity, seems the better option.

For those of you that don't want to fork out the £80 on a Active DisplayPort to DVI converter apparently this works http://www.monoprice.com/products/p..._id=1042801&p_id=5135&seq=1&format=4#feedback (read the feedback responses)

Anyways... new GFx card it is !

Thanks again, you have all made my mind very clear on the correct path
Click to expand...

You might want to remove the competitor links m8 :)
 
I thought these were forums for helping people ?

I'm not here to promote anything, just trying to get help on my next step towards a 3 screen set-up... seen as this costs an arm and a leg to achieve (3 screens, and a supported Eyefinity GFX card) any money that can be saved is good.

Why spend £80 when you can spend £20

Ill be visiting OCUK on Monday to buy a new GFX card, so its not as if there not getting my cash !
 
As the forum is owned by the store they set the rules and that means no competitor linking.

jigger said:
Why did you not just get a 30" ?

You do know, you wont be seeing playable frame rates across three 1920 x 1200 monitors any time in the next three years.
Click to expand...

Well 30" is about £500 more expensive than the 3x24 which he already has! and the increased FOV in triple res is a preference over just a bigger screen.

xgstq said:
For those of you that don't want to fork out the £80 on a Active DisplayPort to DVI converter apparently this works [passive DP->VGA adapter]
Click to expand...

The passive DP->VGA adapter does indeed work sometimes but people are also reporting hit and miss results with screen flickering when using this adapter. Only worth trying if you can send the thing back if u cant get it to work otherwise it'll be £15 on top of the £80 u will then spend for an active adapter.

Good luck xgstq, hope to see some screenshots of ur setup once it's completed :D
 
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creed said:
The passive DP->VGA adapter does indeed work sometimes but people are also reporting hit and miss results with screen flickering when using this adapter. Only worth trying if you can send the thing back if u cant get it to work otherwise it'll be £15 on top of the £80 u will then spend for an active adapter.

Good luck xgstq, hope to see some screenshots of ur setup once it's completed :D
Click to expand...

I hope it does work, I read somewhere that as long as you keep your individual screen monitor resolution BELOW 1920x1200 the passive one should work... mine are 1920x1080 so touch wood...

Ill defiantly post some screen-shots... its going to look rather slick, and im spending some $$$ to get the desired effect.

Im having a new office fitted mid February, had all my electrics moved room decorated wooden floor down ! hehe

Ive gone for this option of mounting the screens >> http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000959.html (floating screens !!)

Im currently using 2 cardboard boxes and an old mirror to rest the keyboard and monitor on ! haha not long to go now cant wait
 
whoops see what u mean but crossfire isnt so u can run more than two monitors, it's to improve ur gfx processing ability (or did i missed the joke a second time :-/
 
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